Why Small Businesses Need Cybersecurity

Small businesses often have a misconception that they are too insignificant to attract the attention of cyber criminals. We explore why that way of thinking can expose small businesses to unnecessary risk.

“I’m a small business. Why would a cybercriminal want to target me?”

When over 43% of all cyberattacks target small businesses, there are many reasons this misconception often leads to misfortune.

Small businesses have all the data criminals are looking for—customer information, credit card numbers, bank logins, and so on—and are much easier to hack than the big guys.

That’s because businesses without dedicated IT staff are often unprotected from the most basic threats, and tend to take longer to notice when something’s wrong.

But they are often the most affected. One cyberattack could do a lot more damage to a small business than to a larger one. Here’s how:

Financial damage

The average cost of a data breach for a small business is $38,000. That’s a cost many can’t easily come back from. In fact, 60% of victims go out of business within six months.

Damaged productivity

When someone hacks into your system or gives your computer a virus, chances are it’s going to cause operational downtime—including the time it takes to fix the error, the time it takes to make repairs, and the time it takes to increase security after.

Damaged reputation

56% of data loss events cause damage to the company’s image. When your customers’ personal information is compromised, they are less likely to trust your business. This can often lead to negative press, lost customers, and a suffering reputation.

With so much at stake, you need to take a proactive approach. Outsourcing your IT and cybersecurity services is the most cost-effective way to securing your business data, customer data, technology, and reputation.